Patterico's Pontifications

2/20/2008

Who Has Proved Their Ability to Reach Across the Aisle?

Filed under: 2008 Election,General — Patterico @ 6:57 pm



Tom Maguire:

David Brooks offered a fruitful variation on the “What, if anything, has Barack accomplished (I have a free thirty seconds)” question – why has he ducked the big bipartisan pushes of the last few years?

Where was Barack when the Gang of 14 teamed up to move judges through the Senate? McCain was there!

Where was Barack when the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill was stumbling through the Senate? McCain was there!

Where was Obama when roughly 20 Democratic Senators joined the Republicans in trying ti update FISA? McCain was there!

The reality is that McCain has practiced the sort of bipartisanship Obama has merely preached, and has the political scars to prove it. Do we want the guy who does a great job of talking the talk, or the guy who has walked the walk for years?

It’s a good point. Reaching across the aisle isn’t all sweetness and light, and a couple of the specific examples offered have really upset Republicans — me included. But if what’s really important to people is a candidate who has proved he can do it — even when it’s tough — McCain is the obvious choice.

Again, I don’t consider these actions by McCain to be strengths. But if bipartisanship really is your thing, then you should.

12 Responses to “Who Has Proved Their Ability to Reach Across the Aisle?”

  1. I dont care for BRACK OBAMA he is too liberal

    krazy kagu (591d76)

  2. ‘In America there are two parties: the stupid party and the evil party. Occaisionally, Congress does something both stupid and evil. This is called bipartisanship.

    Polybius (14e4f1)

  3. or the time he paired with russ feingold to abridge your freedom of speech;

    or the time he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with alan cranston to get the mean old fslic off of poor charles keating’s back…

    there’s a lot to love, isn’t there?

    assistant devil's advocate (8f8d53)

  4. I do consider McCain to be a strong bipartisan, and it’s one reason why I would consider voting for him.

    That said, I have a concern about his temper, and a concern about his *age*, and I felt betrayed by him on the issue of torture. In my mind he has weaknesses as well as strengths, and part of the next eight months will be a weighing of how they balance, just as it will be a weighing of how Obama’s strengths and weaknesses balance.

    aphrael (db0b5a)

  5. For a better life vote for the Arab guy. You are bound to lose weight living on Hope, or is that Hype, with no substance. Of course you won’t live long and won’t be a burden on the overloaded SS system. The democrats have it all figured out, no concentration/death camps required. The 45 minute NAZI style speach by the Arab guy makes one wonder just what he is.

    Scrapiron (d671ab)

  6. Hitler never gave a longer or more rousing (aka brainwashing) speech.

    Scrapiron (d671ab)

  7. Comment by Scrapiron β€” 2/20/2008 @ 8:31 pm
    Comment by Scrapiron β€” 2/20/2008 @ 8:32 pm

    Ignoring trollish (and ignorant, racist, and boring) behavior.

    Stashiu3 (460dc1)

  8. aphrael,

    I know you will come to a thoughtful, well-reasoned, and compassionate decision in the end. Of course, I will completely disagree since I don’t really like McCain, Hillary, or Obama… so we have that conversation to look forward to.
    πŸ˜‰

    Seriously, when you do make a decision please look me up. I’d be very interested in how you came to it and respect your honesty. If the election were held tomorrow, I’d be writing in alphie Fred Thompson. Heh.

    Stashiu3 (460dc1)

  9. Thank you for the kind words, Stashiu. πŸ™‚ It’s worth noting that i’ve already voted for Senator Obama once; I concluded sometime last fall that Senator Clinton was someone I *really* did not want to have the job, and so I cast my vote in the primary for the candidate most likely to derail her candidacy.

    Whether I will end up voting for the same man in the general election is a different question.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  10. Whether I will end up voting for the same man in the general election is a different question.

    Isn’t it always? And should be. Primaries are within the party (and should be, I don’t understand open primaries at all) and the general election for the whole. I understand those who will “hold their nose” and vote for McCain, despite disagreeing with them. I’m not going to be bullied into toeing the party line because some Republicans insist on demonizing their opponents. That’s why I left the party and am now Independent. The loss of influence is more than offset by the retention of self-respect.

    I think Senator Obama is campaigning in good faith and I can respect that while disagreeing with his positions (once he puts them out that is, heh) πŸ˜‰
    BTW, thanks for visiting and commenting. I’m glad you saw something interesting.

    Stashiu3 (460dc1)

  11. I like your site, too, Stashiu3. Is there any way to leave a comment at your place with just an email registration and not a mee.nu blog?

    DRJ (3eda28)

  12. Thank you very much DRJ. I didn’t realize that it was requiring registrations until yesterday, so it is completely open now. It’s still very basic as far as bells & whistles (pretty much none yet) because I’m concentrating on content.

    I was going to work the word “Eclectic” into the title, but I have a weakness for alliteration. πŸ˜‰ That’s the idea I’m going for though, a wide range of things I might find interesting if I was visiting a new blog.

    Stashiu3 (460dc1)


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